12.26.2008

Five Fears Associations Have about Social Media

You know what they are.

- Loss of control over your marketing messages;
- how do deal with negative comments about you;
- how to empower staff to speak appropriately for the association;
- how to manage the time suck;
- what if we build it and they don't come?

... What else you got? Let me know yours in the comments, I'll pick the best five (or more) to discuss in this free webinar on January 15. Come hang out with me and find out the answers.

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10 comments:

  1. Hey Maddie. Great list! A lot of them have to do with "control", or moderation of content. There's no smoking gun for that, except for hosting your own community and essentially locking it down. However if you implement a good mix of tactics for moderation you can minimize the risk.

    Here are a few more that come to mind quickly...

    - How to tie in Social Media into traditional programs and objectives.

    - How to engage "older" demographics not familiar with Social Media, assuming they are core to the membership.

    - The Big One... Where to start? I think there's a lot of information/options out there, but the biggest "fear" may be not knowing exactly where to dive in!

    - Sterling Raphael
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  2. fear that failing or making a mistake is a waste of time -- but learning is part of the process and one of the most important ways to achieve success.
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  3. I think your list covers most of them, but one that I keep hearing has to do specifically with anti-trust issues and the dangers those types of discussions pose to trade associations.
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  4. Fabulous list Maddie -- The question I hear most often is how do you choose? With the rapid proliferation of social media sites and the time required to tend them, how do you decide between LinkedIn or FaceBook, Plaxo or Picayune? What's the optimum approach?
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  5. You nailed the top 5, Maddie.
    One more thing to add - what does success look like, especially if we have to demonstrate success to a cynical or skeptical boss/volunteer leadership? (for the next record, my boss isn't one of those)
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  6. Great list! I second all of these, and add 2:

    --How stable/reliable are tools like Facebook and Twitter--what's to say we don't invest a bunch of time in them, get a bunch of members on board, only to have them suddenly just cease to exist?

    --Are we doing it just because everyone else is doing it? What if it's just a passing fad?
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  7. Great list! I second all of these, and add 2:

    --How stable/reliable are tools like Facebook and Twitter--what's to say we don't invest a bunch of time in them, get a bunch of members on board, only to have them suddenly just cease to exist?

    --Are we doing it just because everyone else is doing it? What if it's just a passing fad?
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  8. Hi Maddie,

    I come at this from a little different perspective. We manage multiple associations (professional societies). Our association clients have invested a fair amount of time/money to build out Members Only areas... and in these areas we have collaboration features (forums, listservs, job banks). A major part of any association's value proposition (and the reason that members pay dues) is to be able to communicate and collaborate with other professionals in the same field. My biggest fear is that these "open" social media sites (LinkedIn in particular) will provide this collaboration capability (for free) and thus impact the existing revenue stream and value proposition that associations offer. That is my biggest fear for 2009... how to compete with or co-opt these new SM sites and defend our clients' value proposition to their members.

    Brett
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  9. Great list, but I'd edit the first one... I'd say "loss of control over your brand." or maybe, fear of destroying your brand...
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  10. In Qatar, there are a couple of other reasons. People might write something illegal, and users aren't sophisticated enough to distinguish between what you say, and how others respond. There's also the problem that societies and clubs need to be officially approved by the government.

    This hasn't stopped individuals using social media, but has prevented take-up amongst corporates.
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